Meshkov Brest will on Wednesday (19.00 local time) play their last home match in the first part of the regular season hosting Zeleznicar in what will be another match in which Belarusian champions can’t afford themselves to lose a single point in order not to lose the chance to qualify for the final tournament. Six-point gap, which is at the moment separating them from NEXE, can only be reduced with victories which is why coach Manolo Cadenas will most likely look for a new victory playing with his best players. 

Zeleznicar have on the other side in the last few games proved they’ve improved quite much from the beginning of the season winning for points – three against Steaua Bucuresti and one in Novi Sad in Serbian derby against Vojvodina. By that, they’ve also delivered a solid performance against Vardar which will definitely serve them as motivation to go to Brest and try to defeat favoured opponents taking new points. 

Manolo Cadenas, Meshkov Brest coach:
Zeleznicar have managed to deliver some quality outings lately defeating Steaua and reaching a draw against Vojvodina. They were able to stay close even against Vardar which is why we’re sure a tough one is ahead. This will be our last home match of the season and the goal will be to play a quality game and win three points. 

Andrei Yurynok, Meshkov player:
We’ve played five matches last week winning all of them which means we’re in good mood and we’d obviously like to prolong the winning streak. We know Zeleznicar can play quality handball and we must not underestimate them. I hope our fans will be there in what, I repeat, will be our last game prior to the Christmas break. 

Veselin Vujovic, Zeleznicar coach: 
Our rivals are dealing with tough schedule playing national championship matches along with Champions League and SEHA - Gazprom League. However, they need points which is why I’m sure they’ll play with their best roster in order to win points and qualify for the final tournament where they, in my opinion, deserve to be. I like to play against stronger teams, I see it as a challenge. We’ll try to play our best handball and whether it will eventually be enough for us to take three points. It would be phenomenal to surprise them in Brest although I don’t honestly see it as a realistic outcome. 

Nemanja Milovanovic, Zeleznicar player: 
Long trip is ahead of us as well as a match against a strong team. They always play with their best players at home but I feel like we’re ready and in good mood. We played well in previous two, three games and I hope we can perform on the same level as against Vardar which would certainly secure us a good result.